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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
viii. MOOD RING

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   RILEY HAD NEVER BEEN hungover before. Unlike many of her colleagues, she didn't even know what it tasted like, excluding that unpropitious time Fury decided to have a quick drink after one particularly stressful mission and Riley thought it was soda. She'd never experienced the so-called highs and lows drinking allegedly induced; however, when she awakened the next morning with a raging headache and the lingering tingle of death on her limbs, Riley was convinced this was what being hungover was really like.

   The Midtown gang sluggishly gathered themselves early that morning. Riley stood tall, reaching over and rubbing her shoulder. She cringed at the feeling of her sore muscles and bruises that formed overnight after her fight with Roman. Her face contorted with discomfort as she stretched her back, which had an unfortunate ache to it after sleeping on wooden panels.

   A low snicker thundered from behind Riley. "Someone's out of shape," a deep, arrogant voice remarked.

   Riley rolled her eyes as she turned to face Roman. He had a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, reminding the youngest Avenger of a God she once knew. "You're the one talking," she retorted, grumpy. "Didn't I break your nose last night?"

   Roman shrugged nonchalantly and scrunched his nose up to prove that it was, contrarily, perfectly fine. "Gotta love the perks of super-healing," he mentioned. Then, Roman paused. A thoughtful look colored his face. "Too bad it didn't do shit for me when I died all heroic-like."

   She lightly laughed, he smiled. This was how they had always been, even when she was 11. It always fascinated her how she could talk to certain people after long periods of time like nothing had changed, even when everything had.

   Meanwhile, the students of Midtown huddled together, trying to find it in them to stay awake. They weren't sure what time it was, but it was early.

   MJ's gaze was locked on the two famous Avengers in the room as they bantered with one another. "They're supposed to be really good friends, right?" MJ wondered aloud. "Riley said she's known Roman since she was 11."

   "They bickered half the night yesterday," bitterly contradicted Flash through a yawn. "At least it kept Valor up long enough to dry us off." He smiled fondly at the memory of Riley illuminating her body with light, warming everyone up from the rain.

   "It's weird," admitted Ned. "It's like... if Flash and Peter were friends, you know?" He made a face at the concept.

   Peter, who had been lost in his thought up until that moment, perked up when he heard his name. "Huh?" Peter lifted his head, not realizing how hard he had been staring at the ground until then. He tried to relax. "What are we talking about?"  

   Ignoring Peter's confusion, Flash claimed, "Well, I call dibs on being Valor. That way, I'd get to be the leader of the Avengers and I'd know who Spider-Man is." He grinned proudly.

   Ned scoffed. "If you were the leader of the Avengers, humanity would be doomed. You'd try to sell the Infinity Gauntlet on eBay."

   Flash glared at Ned, firing back, "And you would nerd out over it, nerd."

   "Uh, who wouldn't? It's like Fruity Pebbles, but space rock version."

   Peter and MJ exchanged judgemental glances. "You did not just compare the stones that control the universe to a crappy breakfast cereal," Peter criticized.

   "Alright, guys," called Riley, clapping her hands together with a smile. She and Roman moved forward to join the group. It didn't seem like they had heard anything regarding the Midtown gang's conversation. "I think this is easily the worst plan I've ever come up with, but... something's better than nothing, right?"

   "Great start, boss," sarcastically said Roman. Riley just nudged Roman, causing him to add, "What? It's true. You came up with a crucial plan to help save the universe, and you can't think of anything to harbor an alien? Honestly, I think I deserve some special treatment."

   "The only special treatment you deserve is your previously broken nose," Riley replied without missing a beat. "Now, let's go over the plan. Roman, you're staying out of sight for the rest of camp. Today's the 24th, so you just have to hide out here 'till August 3rd."

   MJ raised her hand. "Uh, did we ever talk about why he's staying here? Like... can't he just... you know, leave?"

   "Because—" started Roman, only to be interrupted.

   "Roman doesn't wanna deal with the Avengers 'cause he thinks they're all annoying," Peter interjected with a slight edge to his voice.

   Peter didn't like Roman all that much, probably because he and Riley had a history that Peter didn't fully understand. Peter also didn't understand how he found Earth's mightiest heroes irritating. Roman further reminded him of all his bullies growing up. There were a lot of things about Roman that Peter already disliked.

   Roman eyed Peter curiously, nodding nonchalantly. "Someone's a loyal guard dog," humored the alien.

   "No, I just pay attention when Riley wants me to," Peter replied a little too quickly. Roman wasn't sure what he meant by that, but he was amused nonetheless. Roman enjoyed his talent of getting under anyone's skin.

   Riley, unsure of what to think of the sudden hostility, decided to continue. "...Right... Anyways," she dismissed, looking around the room. "We're gonna keep Roman out of sight and out of mind. The last thing we—and by "we", I mean "I"—need is for people to discover how he's actually alive. The public doesn't like aliens all that much right now, so no one will speak a word of his existence. Got it?"

   Everyone nodded unobtrusively, intimidated by how promptly Riley switched between the bright girl they knew to the badass superhero the world knew. Of course, that excluded Roman, who was shamelessly staring at Peter. Roman was trying to figure out what he had done to make the human dislike him so much.

   Don't get Roman wrong—he never cared what others thought of him and oftentimes found entertainment in his adversaries; however, this had to be the fastest someone had turned on him. Roman was intrigued.

   Riley beamed at everyone's mutual understanding. She was expecting someone to object, considering that was what she grew up around. This was a pleasant surprise.

   "Great!" she chirped. "Now, I'm gonna have to sneak off a lot to check up on Roman and catch him up to speed. And, unfortunately, there are some things that I'm not legally allowed to tell you guys, so that part's all on me."

   "So while you're doing that, we're supposed to cover for you when you're not around, right?" Peter charged, growing uncomfortable under Roman's hard stare. He felt like his soul was being rummaged through.

   Riley hummed. It was like she had completely forgotten what she had told Peter last night due to how preoccupied her mind had become. Work seemed to have that effect on her.

   "And I need you guys to help me figure out how to get to a phone," Riley added. "I'd leave, but I kinda pinky promised my family that I wouldn't leave under any circumstances. So... I have to call them."

   She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and appended, "They sent me here to relax before I take on my Avengers responsibilities. Even in an emergency, I told them I'd stay here and let them deal with it. But... I guess we never really talked about what would happen if the emergency came to me..."

   "Don't sweat it, Valor!" Flash encouraged. "We'll help you out! As long as you come on my livestream, of course." Everyone turned to Flash with matching glares. This caused Flash to awkwardly wave his hand. "Eh, actually, don't worry about it."

   Riley just laughed, feeling better knowing that everyone understood the plan. She turned to Roman, pointing her finger at him. "You better stay here," she menacingly threatened. Roman was about to argue, causing her to mention, "Just until I can figure out where to move you. I mean it, Mood Ring."

   Rather than bickering with his colleague, Roman groaned. "God, I was hoping you forgot about that shitty nickname."

   "Mood Ring?" repeated MJ.

   Riley shrugged. "I dunno if you guys have noticed yet, but when I was a kid, I noticed that Roman's eyes change color with his mood," she revealed. She grinned from ear-to-ear. "Like a mood ring."

   Peter couldn't help but smile at how pleased Riley seemed over the nickname. Although Riley wasn't entirely confident regarding her plan, Peter believed in her. For now, that would have to be enough. And then... maybe when this was all over, he could tell her how he felt about her.

   "Don't look so smug," Roman lamentably taunted.

   "You know what?" Riley shot back. "I'll be even smugger just for you." Roman rolled his eyes as she led the march toward the front door. Everyone trailed behind after her, excluding Roman.

   "This is crazy," Ned mumbled to the others. He was in disbelief as he smiled. "We're really harboring an alien... with an Avenger! This kind of stuff only happens in TV shows!"

   "That's the thing, Ned," Riley related. "In a TV show, something would be bound to go wrong. But not us. We're gonna stay calm, collected, and stick with the script."

   Riley hadn't been trying to motivate her friends whatsoever. She was being serious. This was technically her first mission as a leader. She'd be damned if something went wrong. That was the last thing she needed on her plate. She could just imagine the nightmare that damage control would be.

   She wasn't fully confident in her plan, but there was still time to make changes if necessary. She would make sure that Roman's existence remained a secret. She didn't exactly have any other choice.

   Riley continued to remind herself that repeatedly as she twisted the weathered doorknob to the side and pulled open the door. The morning breeze brushed past her in the face. Sunlight wrapped its arms around Riley, energizing the girl instantly. She could almost hear Peter's voice in the back of her head calling her a sunflower. Riley smiled at the memory without realizing it.

   And then she saw him.

   Warren.

   Wait... Warren?

   Riley's eyes widened when she noticed the grown man standing just a few feet away from the raggedy cabin in the woods. Everything in that moment was moving in slow motion, reminding Riley of something from Animal Planet. Unfortunately for Riley, she and her friends were the prey in this scenario.

   Warren sauntered toward the group with a lopsided smirk towing unevenly across his face. His eyes narrowed in on the teenagers, and as he grew nearer to them, he even laughed. "Well, isn't this just a wonderful surprise?" greeted Warren.

   "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me," muttered Riley.

   "Yep, we're screwed," MJ said.

   Riley paced ahead, hoping to lead Warren's attention away from the cabin. "What are you doing here, stalker?" she asked.

   Warren wagged his finger. "Don't try and change the subject, Valor," sneered the camp counselor. "You kids are in big trouble for trying to sneak off last night. Did you forget we do random room checks to make sure everyone's where they're supposed to be?"

   Riley ignored the sudden panic in everyone's voices behind her as she calmly inquired, "If I say yes, will you leave us alone?"

   Warren scoffed. "In your dreams," he snapped. "I was hoping I'd be the one to find you dorks, but I didn't think I'd actually get to." He flashed them a sinister grin. "I'll enjoy thinking of your punishments."

   "Sadist," fake-coughed Ned.

   "Yeah, yeah," dismissed Warren. He looked them all over. "Just what exactly were you all doing anyway?"

   Riley was quick to speak up before the others could. "Camping," she confidently answered. "Wasn't it obvious?"

   Warren narrowed his eyes at them, skeptical. His gaze shifted between each person in search of discomfort to signal that Riley was lying.

   "Camping, huh?" repeated Warren, standing with his hands on his hips. He was unconvinced. "It rained last night. You're all dry." He halted, his attention moving to the cabin behind them. "You were in that cabin last night."

   "You can't prove that!" Flash roared from behind Riley.

   "Doesn't matter," Warren jeered. "It's my word against yours. But I am a little curious... What's inside the cabin? Alcohol? Weed?"

   Everyone fell silent. Riley racked her brain in hopes of coming up with something to throw Warren off their trail. He was clearly dubious, and Riley needed to think fast. So, the impulsive girl shrugged her shoulders and announced the first thing that came to mind:

   "Oh, just an alien," Riley coolly answered. She raised her hands innocently as her friends continued to panic behind her.

   Warren blankly stared at her for a long moment. It was painful to simply stand there awaiting a response. She even held her breath for a good minute there until he scoffed.

   "You guys are weird," he disclosed. The statement alone caused the group of five to harmoniously sigh in relief. He motioned to the trail behind him. "C'mon, let's go. If you hurry up, maybe your punishment won't suck." Warren turned on his heel and walked away.

   Meanwhile, Riley turned to the others with a victorious smile. "Piece of cake," she declared with a laugh. Peter's eyes lit up at how Riley had saved the day once more. "If there's one thing growing up around a bunch of idiot superheroes has taught me, it's that telling the truth surprisingly goes a long way."

   Once again, Peter Parker was left in awe of Riley Stark.

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   Apparently, not only was Peter regularly left in awe by Riley, but he was also left in the dust. He thought it was quite ironic, but he was too overwhelmed by his thoughts to laugh about the joke.

   Maybe Peter was overreacting. No, Peter was definitely overreacting. It's just the fact that he's hardly seen Riley since their lives were infiltrated by a rogue alien and it just so happened that she liked him possibly as much as Peter liked her... and he was a little overwhelmed by it.

   Maybe Peter was justified in his dramatics. Maybe he was blowing this whole thing out of proportion. He wasn't sure. The thing is—Peter has never actually had a girl like him back before. At least, he's pretty sure of it. He didn't think it was possible for someone like Riley to like him.

   But then one dark, stormy night (yes, a literal dark and stormy night), Riley told him she liked him.

   And the one chance Peter had to tell the girl of his dreams that he liked her, too, he lost it to a rainstorm and the personified headache that was Flash Thompson. And that stupid alien named Roman.

   It had taken Peter some time to realize that he didn't feel threatened by Roman. Sure, Roman was cool, an alien, and incredibly handsome; however, Peter didn't care about all that stuff. What he cared about was that Roman had seized all of Riley's time, leaving nothing for the boy who wanted just one conversation with her.

   Of course, Peter wasn't mad. It was a pretty reasonable emergency. He hadn't been around the first time a bunch of people came back to life, but Riley had. To an extent, Riley was actually prepared this time. He wasn't going to distract her from something as important as this.

   Days had passed since Roman's return. After Riley managed to crank out her responsibilities for her punishment (which was a two-page essay about why they shouldn't have snuck out after hours), she was always disappearing to confer with Roman. Regardless, the only thing that concerned Peter was that he hadn't seen her in a while.

   And he really missed her.

   The only person who had seen Riley was MJ, and that was because they were roommates. That made MJ the most sought out person in Peter's life now—because he wanted to know what Riley was up to and when she'd be free to talk.

   All MJ had to tell Peter was details about Roman's life and his friendship with Riley. Apparently, all Riley talked about was how much she had missed Roman and how annoying, yet wonderful he was. Sure, it made Peter a little jealous, but if she was happy, then he didn't care that much.

   On the other hand, Riley didn't even notice how felicitous she had been until she started to notice how her cheeks would always ache. She smiled so much that being happy physically pained her. Riley had really missed her old friend deep down. He was a big part of her childhood, despite only knowing him for a short time.

   When they met, Riley was 11 and Roman was 17. Well, he was physically 17, but he oftentimes stressed how he was actually hundreds of years old. Riley always questioned him and Thor about "why aliens got to look young for centuries, and humans didn't." Of course, that would end in Thor whining about how he wasn't an alien.

   Riley's first impression of Roman was that he was a brooding teenager—the kind that Fury would always talk about whenever he'd talk about Riley becoming a teenager. The thing about Roman was that none of the Avengers particularly liked him. They either disliked him or were purely indifferent. They didn't appreciate his attitude and how he always had something to say.

   Natasha used to always point out how similar Roman and Tony were, only to result in their offense. Roman and Tony especially never got along, but then again, there were only so many people that actually got along with Tony... including Riley.

   And so, because Riley got along rather well with Tony, she ended up becoming really close with Roman.

   When Roman crash-landed on Earth, he was a nightmare to deal with. He was blunt, sardonic, dry, and selfish. The only reason Roman arrived on Earth was because he ran away from Thanos, who destroyed Roman's home. Roman had been apart of the royal guard on his planet and he was supposed to stay back to fight, but he was so scared that he fled.

   Everyone's reactions to Roman's story had been anticipated. They thought he was a coward for running away. Additionally, everyone disliked his attitude and his reasons for sticking around, which was to gain vengeance for his people since he fully believed that Thanos would come to Earth next. The only person who had been sympathetic toward Roman was the 11-year-old. Riley still remembered what she'd said to Roman after hearing his story.

  "It's okay, Roman. I run away from fights all the time 'cause I get scared, too. Anyone who says they aren't scared are a bunch of liars. I wouldn't trust them! But you can trust me! I'm always scared shitless!"

   "...Thanks, kid."

   They became close after that. Riley always admired him because she could identify with him. She put up with his annoying personality, and Roman promptly learned that he actually liked having her around. Roman liked to think that Riley was the one who taught him loyalty and how to be self-sacrificing—not the other Avengers. Still, he'd let them think that until he deemed otherwise. That was what he remembered thinking right before he died.

   For most people, death changes them in ways that can't be fully explained. However, when Roman found out that Riley had actually cried over his death, he laughed and said, "You should've never thought you could've gotten rid of me." So... maybe not everyone changes when faced with death.

   Still, Roman was flattered when Riley responded with, "Are you kidding? You're the only brotherly figure I wouldn't want dead!"

   If only Peter Parker knew that Riley viewed Roman as a brother, then maybe he'd be able to relax. But for now, he was just desperate for a sliver of her time.

   So when Peter saw Riley about to sneak off to the cabin in the woods again, he thought this was a personal message from God... or Thor. If Peter was being honest, he wasn't entirely sure how the whole "Gods" thing worked.

   Peter paced toward her, shouting, "Riley!" just loud enough to make her jump in surprise. She spun around with a small smile on her face, considering she had recognized his voice in an instant. She allowed Peter to catch up to her before she greeted him. "Riley... Hey! I haven't seen you in forever!"

   Riley's smile dropped. It was at that moment that she actually remembered what she'd said to Peter. She'd been so caught up in this whole thing with Roman that she actually forgot. Part of her was hoping Peter forgot, too, so that they could just move on with their lives.

   Riley wanted to slap herself for forgetting, but instead, she played with her hands nervously and told him, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Pete. It's been so hectic lately, you know?"

   Peter nodded nervously. He was going to tell her what he wanted to back in the woods a few days ago. He just needed the perfect moment. "Yeah, I bet," he assured her. "You know... if you need help with all that, I can... help you, you know? Like, I'm here for you. Plus, I'm kind of an Avenger now."

   Riley's smile grew at his kindness. "Don't worry, I didn't forget," she assured. "You'd be the first one I'd go to anyway."

   A blush illuminated his cheeks as he doubted, "Really?"

   Riley eyed her close friend curiously. "Duh," she promised as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She lightly punched his arm. "We're partners in justice, remember?"

   Smiling at Riley, Peter cleared his throat. "I've... actually been meaning to talk to you," he revealed. He looked back up to meet her warm gaze. He could've melted just looking at her.

   Riley tilted her head to the side, nervous by his words. "Really? About what?"

   Then, the thought crossed her mind: Peter was going to tell her that he didn't like her.

   "Yeah," confirmed Peter. "I—"

   She was sure of it. She really didn't want to have this conversation right now either, which was what caused Riley to interject, "Wait, wait. I promised Roman I'd bring him back some food before I forget. Do you mind waiting, like, 5 minutes?"

   Silence crossed the pair. Peter almost wanted to say no. He wanted to tell her that this couldn't wait. He wanted to do anything he possibly could to keep her there with him.

   "Please?" begged Riley. She even whipped out the puppy dog eyes, knowing damn well that those didn't work on anyone anymore. Well, other than Peter, but she didn't know that. "For me? It's not important, is it?"

   "...Nah," he practically spat out. "No, it's not. It can wait."

   Riley studied him carefully. "Are you sure?" she asked, gaining a nod. He smiled at her, causing Riley to beam in response. "Phew, okay, perfect!" She was already moving before she finished speaking. "I'll be back soon!"

   "O-Okay!" he meekly called, but Riley was already gone. Again. He dropped his shoulders in disappointment, his head hanging low momentarily. But then... he smiled.

   Because if Peter Parker was being honest, he'd wait the rest of his life for Riley Stark.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

i'm super excited to announce that the official prequel for this book, Valor, is PUBLISHED! some of you might've seen it already if you follow me, but if you didn't, here's your official announcement!

the prequel follows riley's life as an agent before she was an avenger, and it goes through several of the mcu films, starting with iron man 2 all the way through captain america: civil war!

i'm so, so excited to finally publish it, and i hope you guys enjoy reading it! and again, thank you all for your endless support (and patience!!). it warms my heart endlessly <3

also, while i'm here, i'd like to give spiderskoo a little shoutout for making a cover for this fic! you have my heart <3 thank you, again!